Demolition grenade



Au 22, 1944. I J. B. DECKER ET AL 2,356,339

. DEMOLITION GRENADE Filed April 8, 1941 Patented Aug. 22, 1944 DEMOLITION GltE-NADE Josef B. Decker and Max Eichschmidt, Elkton, Md., assignors to Triumph Explosives, Inc., Elkton, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application April 8, 1941, Serial No. 387,537

8 Claims (Cl. 102-64) This invention relates to grenades and associated parts and more particularly to grenade assemblies and parts of the type adapted for hand throwing in offensive actions, although the invention is not limited to use with such grenades.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved grenade and bouchon for use therewith and assembly means therefor.

More particularly it is an object of the inventlon to provide in a hand grenade, a fuse and detonating bouchon, together with means for releasing the bouchon from the grenade when the fuse is ignited and prior to the explosion of the main charge to reduce the size of and number of parts which might be blown back and injure the thrower.

An important object of the invention consists in the arrangement of a separable connection between a grenade and its mounted fuse and the bouchon containing the percussion cap, which connection retains the parts assembled until the release and separation of the hand lever under the action of the striker spring.

A further object of the invention consists in the arrangement of a grenade containing a minimum of metal for fragmentation, together with a bouchon for initiating the explosion of the charge in the grenade, which bouchon is arranged to be separated from the grenade prior to the explosion of the same.

An important feature of the invention consists in the connection of the bouchon and the fuse tube of a grenade by means separable upon the removal of the release handle under the action of the striker for the percussion cap.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following specification wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention with the understanding that such changes and modifications may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical central section through an assembled grenade and bouchon constructed according to the present invention and shown with the striker in cocked position;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1 showing a portion of the releasable attaching mechanism for the bouchon head;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the cotroops as against objects.

, in position in the grenade body; and If Figure 7 is an exploded view showing the grenade parts in their released position after the ignition of the fuse but before the explosion of the main charge.

The most modern practice in warfare dictates the provision of at least two types of hand grenades for use by troops. The first and perhaps most common form is the defensive grenade of the fragmentation type, comprising an outer casing of cast iron or the like deeply scored to I permit the explosive charge to break it into a number of shrapnel-like pieces adapted to infiict the maximum injury to enemy troops. Such a grenade is relatively safe for the thrower since it is used at relatively long throwing range so that the fragments do not return tothe thrower, or at least not with sufficient Velocity to be damaging.

A second and newer type of grenade is the offensive one intended not so much for use against The primary purpose of such grenades is demolition, for instance of machine gun nests, tank treads, small artillery, grounded airplanes, and the like. For several reasons, primarily in the interests of effectiveness, such grenades are used at much shorter ranges or may even be placed in position instead of thrown. The timing of the fuses must be relatively short to prevent such grenades from being thrown back toward the original'user and therefore any flying parts would be dangerous and might be fatal to the thrower. Such grenades consist primarily of a large charge of high explosive encased in a container not intended for detrimental fragmentation.

Offensive grenades as heretofore known, however, made use of the same firing mechanism or bouchon as heretofore were in common use on the defensive grenades. This type of bouchon comprises a relatively heavy, die-cast head on which are assembled the necessary operating parts comprising the percussion cap, the striker and its spring, the release lever or handle, the fuse tube and the detonator. All of these parts being made of metal, constituted a considerable weight which could be thrown athigh velocity the explosion of the main charge, thereby reliev- I ing the thrower of any likelihood of injury even though the grenade is explodedat short range. The fuse and detonator, however, remain with the grenade body, which itself contains no metal, to explode the charge.

Referring now to the drawing, the grenade body I!) is illustrated, by way of example only, as comprising an outer cylindrical cup H of paste board or the like and a two-part inner cup having tubular sides l2 and a crirnped in bottom [3. A reinforcing disc HIv is arranged between the outer cup bottom and the inner bottom I3. The top of the body is closed by a pair of centrally perforated discs l5, I5 secured in position by adhesive as shown. The walls of the casing parts are treated with several coats of a waterproofing material. The whole body of the container I is filled with a suitable high explosive such as TNT or the like which may be introduced through the circular central openings IS in the top discs or through the open top of the container before these discs are positioned. If the explosive material is of the moldable type, the use of a removable central core, or a suitable drillin operation, provides a well I! to receive-the fuse tube and detonator which may be-assembled at some later date in the interests of safety. The explosive may also be a compressed powder or a loose powder, but whatever-its form the well is maintained and protected by the non-metallic liner l'l secured in the opening in the lower closure disc l. V l 1 The circular aperture I6 in-the center of the upper closure disc I5 of the grenade body is fitted with a snap ring before assembly with the lower disc by the staples shown. This ring is best shown in Figure 6 to comprise a fiat annulus 2! of brass or the like having an outer diameter larger than the opening [5 and adapted to fit between the discs l 5, I5 and be held in position thereby. It is provided with struck up tongues 22, shown as four in number, which project alongside of the walls of the opening [6 and out beyond the outer face of the upper disc where their ends are inwardly offset as shown at 23 for a purpose to be later described. A cork may be fitted in this ring to close the container opening until such time as the fuse tube is to be installed.

The detonator consists of a copper tube 25 closed at the lower end as at 26 and containing a suitable detonating charge 21 of a'well-known type. It may be a fulminate, an azide, or the like, of the type best suited for detonating the material forming the main charge of the grenade.

metal sleeve 30 best shown in Figures 1, 3, and 4 by the use of spaced crimp ridges as shown. The upper portion of this sleeve 33 is a straight cylinder 3| open at the top as shown in Figure 3. Below the cylindrical portion the sleeve is necked in as at 32, best seen in Figure 4, to receive and hold the tips of the spring fingers 22 of the snap ring on the grenade body. Immediately beneath this necked-in'portion there is the enlarged lower end 33 which provides the snap engagement between the snap-ring and the sleeve, permitting the same to be pressed into position when desired and to remain there against any except a considerable longitudinal pull to re- The upper end of this tube is unfilled as seen in end. of this tube is secured into the otherwise closed lower, end of a larger diameter, formed move the same.

Thenecked-in portion of the sleeve is fitted with a resilient washer or gasket '34 centrally perforated to pass the upper end of the fuse 29, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 4.

A' conventional bouchon head 36 is provided with a reduced neck 31, at the lower end thereof, to provide a loose sliding fit into the upper portion 3| of the sleeve. The lower end of this neck may, after slightcompression of gasket 34, rest at theshoulder where the sleeve is reduced in diameter and a further limitation against movement of the head down toward the bottom of the sleeve is provided by cooperation of the top edge of the sleeve with the shoulder 38 on the head.v

This head is provided, in the conventional manner, with the central aperture 39 counterbored at 40 to receive the percussion cap 4| adapted to be fired by the firing pin 42 carried on the striker assembly .43 pivoted at 44 on a pin passing through and extending between spaced ears 45 forming the side walls of therecess above the head of the percussion cap. A helical spring 44. between these ears .and mounted on the pin- 44 provides the firing energy for the striker,

s The striker is adapted to be held in the cooked position, shown in Figure 1, by the release lever or handle ,the major portion of which extends down alongside of the grenade body and is intended to be grasped by the thrower in the usual only locks the lever but is in the way of any.

movement of the striker toward firing position.

In operation the user grasps the grenade body' so as to hold the handle 41 of the operating lever against the body and withdraws the cotter pin by a jerk on the ring 53. When the grenade is thrown the handle 41 is released and the spring 44' acting on the striker rotates it in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1, liftingthe handle lever about its fulcrum 5| and finally throwing it ofi of the head, giving the striker free access to the percussion cap which it fires. The flame from the'cap spurts down through the central apertures 39 in the head and ignites the end of the fuse 29 which burns in the requisite time as predetermined by the type and style of fuse and ignites the detonating material 21 which inturn fires the main charge of explosive.

To prevent injury to the thrower, means is provided for permitting the head and its associated parts tobe separated from the grenade before the same is exploded and this means'comp'rises the part 60 best seen in Figure 5. Itcomprises a strap of sheet metal having a' curved or hooked portion 6| which is adapted to fitover the nose beneath the curved portion 50 of the handle lever. It will be noted that the arc of curvature of the part BI is of such restricted extent that the upper end 62 thereof does not reach around the fulcrum and above the top of the head. The body portion of the strap extends down close alongside of the head beneath the fulcrum, as seen in Figure 1, and is then bent at right angles and forked to provide the arms or furcations 63, each adapted to pass into one of the partially circumferential slots 64 in the upper portion 3| of the sleeve with a very loose fit. This cooperation is shown in Figures 2 and 4 and in both of those figures it is clear that the reduced portion or neck 31 at the lower end of the head has two of its sides slabbed off as at 66 to a Width less than the space between the arm 63.

With the above or a similar arrangement, when the curved portion 6| is released by hook 50 the neck is free to slide out of the sleeve even though the furcations are still in position in their slots in the sleeve. Therefore as soon as the handle lever has been thrown off by the operation of the striker spring the striker will fire the percussion cap and ignite the fuse and at about the same time the portion 6| of the attaching member 60 will be released from the head. The neck fitting loosely in the sleeve, will not retain the head in position and may fall away due to its weight perhaps assisted by the tumbling action of the grenade in the air. Furthermore, the force of explosion of the percussion cap will tend to blow the neck out of the sleeve. The attaching member 60 will probably fall off at about the same time that the head is released, since the arms 63 will slip out of the slots 64, in which they have a loose fit, when there is no tension on the strap.

Before the explosive in the grenade is ignited, and while the fuse 26 is still burning, the conditions will be somewhat as shown in Figure '7, so that all that remains to be thrown by the force of the explosion of the main charge is the fuse tube and the light-weight sleeve and since most of this material is inside of the charge it will not be projected to any distance but will be largely disintegrated so that there is little likelihood of injury to the thrower from any flying parts.

It will be appreciated that other simple means for securing the bouchon head to the grenade body may be made use of and it is the intent to cover by the attached claims equivalent devices, for this invention relates not so much to the details as to the novel conception of providing a readily detachable bouchon head which separates before the grenade explodes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An offensive grenade including in combination a body containing an explosive charge, a fuse tube secured in said body, a bouchon assembly including a head adapted to set over said tube, a percussion cap, a striker and a release handle mounted on said head, said handle being adapted to be thrown off by said striker when released, and means forming the sole retaining connection between said head and tube, said means being secured to the head by said handle and freed when the said handle is thrown from the head.

2. A bouchon and fuse tube assembly for offensive grenades comprising in combination, a sleeve and fuse tube" secured in coextensive relation, transverse slots in said sleeve, abouchon head having a neck adapted to fit loosely in said sleeve, a fulcrum nose on one side of said head, a handle lever having a-hook'fittingover said nose, a strap for attaching said head'ito said" sleeve and ineluding. furcation's to engage in said slots, and a portion engaging said nose beneath said hook and released by release of the hook.

3. In a grenade in combination, a grenade body, a snap member thereon, a fuse tube having a cooperative snap member thereon, a bouchon including a handle lever the release of which initiates the firing of the bouchon, said lever being arranged to be thrown free of the bouchon when released, means connected with both the fuse tube and bouchon to hold them together, said means being held onto said bouchon solely by said handle lever whereby it is released when the handle is released.

4. A grenade comprising a body portion and a bouchon having partial loose telescoping engagement, a fulcrum on said bouchon, a release lever having a part engaging over said fulcrum, and a link connecting the body portion to said fulcrum and held against said fulcrum solely by said lever part for the purpose described.

5. A bouchon and fuse tube assembly comprising in combination, a fuse tube, means for firing said bouchon and igniting said fuse, a sleeve at one end of said tube adapted for engagement with a grenade casing, a bouchon head having a neck loosely received in said sleeve, a connecting member engaging said sleeve but disengageable therefrom by relative lateral movement, a portion of said member engaging the side of said head, and means clamping said portion against said head, said last named means, said firing means, and said connecting member being operatively connected and so constructed and arranged as to release said clamping means and thus release said connecting means from both engagements only upon actuation of said firing means.

6. A bouchon for an offensive grenade including, in combination, a head member, a percussion cap mounted on said head member, a spring actuated striker movably supported by said head, a spring for urging said striker toward said cap, a release handle member normally contacting said striker and restraining it from said cap against the influence of said spring, a fuse tube extending from said head, means detachably securing said tube to said head, said means operatively connected with said release handle member and so constructed and arranged that it secures said head and tube together only when said handle member is in striker holding position.

7. In a hand grenade for offensive action, in combination, a substantially non-fragmenting container, an explosive charge in said container, a fuse in said charge, an exploding device adapted to ignite said fuse, means temporarily securing said exploding device to the outside of said container, a spring actuated firing device movable toward said exploding device for firing the latter, and mean operatively connected with said securing means and also operatively connected with and actuated by said firing devic when the latter moves toward firing position to release said securing means and thus release said exploding device from the container.

8. A bouchon and fuse tube assembly comprising, in combination, a fuse tube, means for firing said bouchon and igniting said fuse, a sleeve at one, end at said fuse tube adapted for engagement with a grenade casing, a bouchon head having neck loosely received in said sleeve, a connecting member engaging said sleeve, a, portion of said member engaging theside of said head, and means clamping said portion against said head, said last named means,.said firing means, and said connecting member being operatively connected and so constructed and arranged as to release said clamping means and thus release said connecting member only upon 5 actuation of said firing means.

- JOSEF B. DECKER.

MAX E'ICHSCHMIDT. 

